April 18, 2013
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#16
The backpack sat
In Panera Bread
In an unassuming town in Indiana
I looked around and saw
People deciding what to eat
One lady prattling on about
How her friend was upset at God
For giving her a son instead
Of the daughter she so wanted
All of her other friends talked to God
And got what they wantedThe backpack sat
In Panera Bread
It sat there for ten minutes
I saw myself go up and report the potential bomb
And the cops showing up
Asking a few questions
A nice lady saying she just left it there while she waited
On her foodThe backpack sat
In Panera Bread
I saw myself get up to go to the bathroom
And an explosion erupting blowing out the windows
The shrapnel from the cafe chairs and tables
Melding into my fleshI got up and went to the bathroom
Put my tray in the tray bin
Threw my cup of water out
Went outside
There was a storm that was supposed to be coming
I looked for my raincoat
Comments (11)
In Colombia in 2010 when I visited the university where my dad had taught, there was an ice chest sitting alone on a sidewalk. I stopped and wouldn't let my friends go forward for a few seconds until we saw a uniformed delivery guy coming back for it from one of the food kiosks. (There had already been bombs on campus a few minutes before.)
I'm a little confused about this:
How her friend was upset at God
For not giving her a son instead
Of the daughter she so wanted
Do you mean "For giving her a son..." ?
@Roadkill_Spatula - Good catch...
It is strange...how perception changes...
this gave me the willies...I don't think I'll ever look at backpacks in innocence - ever.
You did a great job here capturing a feeling. I like this one very much. Great work.
@mlbncsga - That was one thing that commentators were saying about the Boston Marathon...a security consultant...'See and Report'...
@distractedbyzombies - Thank you Mr. Bearly...it is one of my favorites so far in this challenge...
this is really creepy. also, i hesitate to ask... but what challenge?
Kind of insidious, right? I can't decide if the narrator is being purposefully cavalier or even gleeful about the danger, or if this is a meditation on the heightened sense of paranoia we all feel after something like Boston.
makes me wonder if reporting things like that would just make me paranoid or if it I should just do it anyway and be safe rather than sorry.
@promisesunshine - National Poetry Month...it is my own 'secret' challenge to write 30 poems in 30 days...I haven't done it in a couple years now...
@NoGraySunflowers - Little bit of column A and column B...but probably more A than B...mostly because of the ending...
It is more of a 'freeze'...like when someone is going to punch you...it is being overwhelmed by two seemingly bad decisions that you didn't have before...saying that makes it sound more like B...maybe *I* don't even know...eesh...
@TheSecretLifeOfPandas - I have this same problem in airports...or if I travel alone and go to throw away my trash and leave my bag for 3 seconds to get the trashcan and back...
@HereLiesNelsontheGreat - of course. silly me. i think i did it last year. this year isn't going so great.
A raincoat filled with explosives no doubt. It boggles the mind how we have become so suspicious!